December 19, 1675 – The Great Swamp Fight was a crucial battle fought during King Philip’s War between colonial militia of New England and the Narragansett tribe in December of 1675. On November 2, 1675, Josiah Winslow led a combined force of over 1,000 colonial militia including about 150 Pequot and Mohegan Natives against the Narragansett people living around Narragansett Bay. The Narragansett tribe had not yet been directly involved in the King Philip’s War, but had allegedly sheltered many of King Philip’s men, women and children and several of their warriors had reportedly been seen in Native raiding parties. The colonists distrusted the Narragansett and feared the tribe would join King Phillip’s cause come spring, which caused great concern due to the tribe’s location. The decision was made to preemptively strike the Narragansett before an assumed uprising. Several abandoned Narragansett Native villages were found and burned as the militia…